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Jan 8, 20205 min read

Belgrove Hazelnut Spiced Rum Review

Belgrove Hazelnut Spiced Rum Review

Coming up in this Blog, I'm gonna be doing a quick review of Belgrove's Hazelnut Spiced Flavoured Rum. So if you wanna know all about that really exciting, cool product, if you wanna know all about it, what it tastes like, what it smells like, how to drink it, what mixers you can drink it with, stay tuned.



Buy Belgrove Hazelnut Spiced Rum online



BACKGROUND


Right then, Spiced Rum fans, let's get straight onto this. This is Belgrove's Hazelnut Spiced Rum. Whether it's Flavoured Rum, whether it's Spiced Rum, I'll leave that open to your interpretation. I'm just being inclusive, I'm including it all there. I personally am gonna call this a Spiced Rum because of a couple of the spices that are used in there to flavour this up. But I'll forgive you if you want to call it a Flavoured Rum. It is absolutely lovely, Hazelnut, Belgrove is a UK-based company in Manchester, and a big, big shoutout to Ed, the guy that owns this. It launched early 2019, was when this has come to market, and just at the tail end of 2019, won a silver medal award in the IWSC, International Wine & Spirits Awards, and it got a Silver in the Spiced Rum Flavoured category. Obviously, a lot of love for this Spiced Rum.


Base Rums on this, this is another one! I don't know what it is with the Manchester guys, but the base Rums in this come from Guyana, again the Diamond Distillery, which, as I keep saying, is famous for El Dorado, some of my favourite Rums. We've got three big ingredients to go into, giving this its flavour. Obviously we've got Hazelnuts, Toasted Hazelnuts, we've got Chocolate and Vanilla. Vanilla is loosely a spice, so therefore, I'm classifying it as a Spiced Rum. The other cool thing we've got on the label as well, I'll try and spin that around so you can see it, kind of a little sweetness to flavour guide going on there. Out of five, we've got dry one end, we've got sweet the other end, out of five, we're going three out of five towards the sweeter scale. Not overly sweet when it comes to a Spiced or Flavoured Rum.



WHAT DOES BELGROVE HAZELNUT RUM SMELL LIKE?

I love the smell of that. Actually, yes, the Hazelnut is there, but what comes up straight afterwards is Chocolate. In fact, for me, actually, in the bottle, the Chocolate does kind of overtake the Hazelnut. That's what that reminds me of! Kind of reminds me of Nutella!


WHAT DOES BELGROVE HAZELNUT RUM TASTE LIKE?

This tastes like Rum. Ed has given this a sweetness score, three out of five. Compared to the other Spiced Rums I have tasted, I would actually go a little bit less than that. I would give it a two out of five because it has very much got that Rum vibe coming through it. It is not sweet at all. You guys have been watching this, lots of Dead Man's Fingers coming up in photos and comments and things like that, that is nowhere near as sweet as Dead Man's Fingers or RedLegs or anything like that. I have to emphasise that Rum is coming through. However, what does happen, you've got that lovely Chocolate. For me, the Hazelnut and Chocolate really do, really sort of balance out there. I'm not getting too much Vanilla, but the Vanilla might give it that touch of sweetness that is in there, but while I can't taste it, that's probably just helping the sweetness come through a little bit. But, wow, as a Chocolate and Hazelnut Flavoured Rum, that is absolutely superb, I absolutely love that, really kind of bold flavours. The Rum is very much the forefront of this, it's not the flavour first, it's the Rum first. That's the point I want to get across to you guys.





WHAT CAN YOU MIX WITH BELGROVE HAZELNUT SPICED RUM?

So how can we drink Belgrove's Hazelnut Rum? I'm gonna call it Hazelnut and Chocolate, because I really do think the Chocolate is vibrant coming through. Here we go. The mixer that Ed sent through to me, I 100% agree. Spiced Orange Ginger ale. Absolutely lovely and for me, hands down, my favourite mixer with that. I really, really love that combo together. Fever Tree Spiced Orange Ginger ale, Orange and Chocolate, it just works exceptionally well. For me, you could not get better than that. Next up, I'm going Coca Cola, Coke Zero. I think that did work very well, actually. Again, the Hazelnut in there, the Chocolate in there, just really bounces off the Coke. I think that is absolutely lovely. The whole Rum and Coke is a great serve for this. The next mixer that came through for me, actually, was this, Lixir's Blood Orange Tonic Water. Absolutely lovely. You've got little hints of Cinnamon in there as well. Again, it's just that Orange. If you like your Tonic, Lixir are not really out there in the sense of quinine, the Tonic Waters are lovely, they're not very bitter in that sense. I just think that was a really, really lovely long drink.


BELGROVE HAZELNUT SPICED RUM COCKTAILS

I have also got two cracking cocktail serves with this. The first one, I wouldn't use it in my business because it is purely too expensive, the base Rum is purely too expensive, and I've only got a set amount to work with on Cocktails. However, if you're running a pub, or a bar, or a hotel, or something like that, if you want to take your Espresso Martini's to a whole different level, and you've got the room to charge different prices with different drinks, that, as an Espresso Martini, absolutely amazing. Just very simply, that, a tiny bit of Kahlúa, no sugar or anything like that, Espresso, amazing, absolutely love that. That's my first Cocktail with that.


Belgrove Hazelnut Espresso Martini

  • 50ml Belgrove Hazelnut Rum

  • 15ml Kahlua

  • 75ml Espresso


My second cocktail, and this was given to me by Ed, is kind of a twist on an Old Fashioned. I've sneakily still got it while I've been filming this. You can see, very different in colour in there, this is an Old Fashioned, or Rum Fashioned, whatever you want to call it, simply made with the Belgrove Hazelnut Rum, I've got a couple of dashes of Chocolate Bitters going in there, and with all Old Fashioneds you kind of need that sweetness, and this is William Fox Salted Caramel syrup. Because that's kind of got a little bit of sweetness to it, I've just literally done ten mil of the Salted Caramel syrup, I've literally done two dashes, actually, a third dash went in there, but I think two dashes would've got the emphasis through, two dashes of Chocolate Bitters, a double measure of the Rum, and then, just simply, I haven't got any Chambord's but I think that would work quite well with Chambord. This is just Bols Raspberry liqueur, simple, five mil. And that, I've just garnished it, the Oranges have sunk to the bottom now, it's Dehydrated Oranges in there. (ice clinks against glass) That is absolutely stunning.


Belgrove Hazelnut Old Fashioned




SUMMING UP

I tell you, I would have so much fun with that if I owned a pub or a bar now. I would have so much fun because that is just a whole different level of flavours. Cocktail creation's just flipping up simple old favourite cocktails with a Hazelnut Chocolate twist. Absolutely superb. Ed... (claps) ...thank you very much for sending me that. I'm not just saying these kind words because you sent me that bottle, I promise you, guys, I absolutely promise you, you know how I do my reviews, the only downfall is the price. £38, £40, but if you want something to take your collection in a completely different way, get on it because it is absolutely delicious.

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